Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair Series Recap & Review - Episode 2
- Chase Gifford
- 21 minutes ago
- 6 min read
"Drink your milk. But it's lumpy. Then chew it!" - Lois
There are certain shows and movies that define who we are as people. The first movie I ever saw in a theater was Jurassic Park in 1993. I believed dinosaurs were alive. It was magic. At home I was nurturing what would become my love for horror movies with Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark? I was in love with Batman: The Animated Series. Rugrats was one of my favorite cartoons of all-time. Looney Tunes, Catdog, Kablam!, Home Improvement, That 70's Show and so many others. But one stood out above the rest. My favorites were Rugrats, Batman, The Simpsons, and The X-Files. Among them was a true testament to comedy, family, individualism, chaos, and energetic television -- Malcolm in the Middle.
It is heightened reality, impossible surrealism, and theatrical absurdism. But all of the impossibilities aside, at the heart of it, what made it stand the test of time, was a story of an unassuming, albeit chaotic, family. With an anxiety-ridden, paranoid father named Hal, a maniacal, tyrannical mother named Lois, the oldest and most chaotic brother names Francis, an older brother with psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies named Reese, and the quiet and perhaps most conniving of them all, the little brother named Dewey. And the titular middle child himself -- the anxiety-ridden, paranoid, pain-strickenly intelligent, egotistical genius child named Malcolm. Aaand Jamie of course. But he came later.
By that description alone you might think this is a drama about a family stuck in a vicious cycle of systemic poverty and psychological warfare. But you'd be forgetting that this show is hilarious. It's zany and off-the-wall. It's a series that acknowledges the differences of those closest to us while celebrating the individual achievements of each character and that despite immense differences, family is what counts at the end of the day. And it does all of this in the most kooky, energetic, and hilarious manner possible.
Well now here we are, 20 years later, returning to the home of The Wilkersons, where the boys are grown and the parents are still not empty nesters.
Let's see why Life's Still Unfair...
Episode 2:
Episode details are discussed in the following recap & review. Proceed with Caution!
“Some family trees bear an enormous crop of nuts.” – Wayne Huizenga
Much of the original series was about trying to make sense of how someone can be both the smartest person in the room and the dumbest simultaneously. For all of his genius, Malcolm is missing some serious social skills because wow what a bombshell at the end of episode 1.
Last we saw Malcolm he was doing what he does best, making a situation worse and then running from it. In this case, he is literally running… from it all. In the original series Malcolm was always trying to solve emotional problems with logical, almost mathematical solutions. He was always missing the part where empathy must be not only genuine but from the heart and not the brain. Episode 1 proved that not much has changed in that department for Malcolm. As he reaches out to an old friend we see that Malcolm’s alienation of others didn’t stop at his parents and siblings. Something that is coming back around to bite him in the ass. Even in his phone call, the sincerity is lacking aside from what he needs from his friend.
The betrayal by Malcolm has left both Lois and Hal reeling, but Hal in particular loses all concept of who he is as a man and as a father. He may not have had far to go but this sudden news pushes him off the metaphorical ledge. And in true fashion, Lois’s focus is unable to budge from what Malcolm has done to even notice the presumably good news revealed by Francis. This of course sends Francis, the man that doesn’t care what his mother thinks, into a frenzy trying to figure out how to make her care.
One thing these new episodes really emphasize is that for all the issues each member of this family has, they do because of the collective never caring and never thinking beyond their own issues. Malcolm was wrong for what he did. But Lois and Hal are so in their own world and willing to admonish anyone that bothers them that you have to wonder how anyone can really blame him. Francis starts out delivering good news but it quickly deteriorates into his true motives of trying to succeed in the eyes of his overbearing mother. He’s happiest when he’s at his most miserable. A lot to unravel there.
It’s obvious Reese is up to something but it’s not clear yet what that is. Of course his constant effort of throwing Malcolm under the bus is nothing new so the family doesn’t notice his behavior is riddled with ulterior motives. No one except his little sister, Kelly. She knows exactly what Reese is doing. And she aims to destroy him with this information. A true Wilkerson.
Meanwhile at Malcolm’s home, Leah is understandably upset with his deception all these years. Keeping such a secret from her is unconscionable. The good news is she likes his girlfriend, Tristan. The bad news is Tristan is royally pissed at Malcolm too. Man he screwed up bigtime!
He is so worried about his family “infecting” Leah that he has kept them separated her entire life. His reasoning is sound. His execution is lacking in subtlety.
On the Francis front, he’s just learning of Lois’ priority tier system and that he’s nowhere near the top of her priorities. Number 8 to be exact. As you’d expect, this will send Francis into a tailspin.
On top of finding out she has an entire extended family she’s never met, Leah is dealing with the pitfalls of being a teenager and being a girl. Not for the faint hearted I’m afraid. Seriously though, why are teenagers so cruel? Little bastards. Anyway…
The true depths of Hal’s broken psyche becomes obvious when Lois hits on him and he doesn’t pick up on it. That’s when Lois knows this isn’t a normal mental breakdown for Hal.
Malcolm’s issues are going to remain as such until he takes some responsibility. Something he’s clearly still struggling with. And since Tristan isn’t stupid, his “explain everything away” manner of handling anything isn’t working. It’s the medication he’s on. It’s the therapist he’s seeing that’s the cause of all this. It’s his mother. It’s his father. And so on and so on. He’s just the victim, innocent and all. Yeah right. There’s also the thing he does where he tries to manipulate empathy and forced reconciliation.
Hal turns to Abe for help. Abe introduces Hal to microdosing. No way this could go horribly awry. Especially when they see who runs the whole thing. Hal is in for the trip of a lifetime. For better or worse.
Out of 10
Story: 8.5/ Acting: 8.5/ Directing: 8/ Visuals: 8.5
OVERALL: 8.5/10
Overall thoughts on Episode 2:
The chaos is ramping up. Everything is in turmoil. And if you’ve never seen the show and you’re reading my recaps of each episode you might never know it’s a comedy at the heart of it. And while it does cover some surprisingly heavy themes, it does so with a lightheartedness that conveys sincerity but also levity. Malcolm’s anxieties have clearly spilled into his daughter. She’s having all the issues he experienced as a kid but she’s doing it as a girl. Teenage girls are mean and worse yet teenage boys are disgusting. Good luck, ladies. I don’t know how you do it.
Lois has a more rounded edge to her now but the madness is still there, ever-brewing. Hal is about to experience a whole lotta internalized repression that will both hopefully help him and calm his obsessions so that they don't become something far worse. And Francis will likely never let this Lois tier system go. Reese is surprisingly entrepreneurial. Unfortunately it’s at the expense of his own dad. The anniversary celebration is in 32 hours and counting. I’m sure everything will work out exactly as planned.
(Sidenote: You may have noticed I have barely mentioned Dewey. I cannot understate how underutilized he truly is. In a revival filled will triumphs, his involvement, or lack thereof, is a major stye on the face of it.)
Check out the trailer below:
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